Alain Rafesthain

Chairman Centre Region

Empowered by the success of the first conference, among public and profession alike, ArchiLab 2000 is this year proposing a theme focusing on "city-planning and globalization". The rapid industrialization of the western countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries saw the population of these regions grow, and flock to the cities, leaving rural areas sometimes enfeebled. In the 20th century, the concentration of people in ever smaller areas created both new requirements and new problems. Suffice it to think of housing shortages, fuel supplies, the suburban explosion, the development of transport systems, and the fearsome phenomena of pollution... This delicate phase that we have lived through in the West is currently being experienced by other communities, each with their own distinctive features, For globalization is being imposed on us all for the first time, and fashioning the world to its scale—otherwise put, in a finite way. Confronted by a shared set of problems, can architecture usher in solutions for the future development of human beings ? This, in a way, is what ArchiLab is offering. Not a list of recipes, but a crucible of ideas and resources. Thirty architects will present their projects and works in an ever-changing constructed environment, which is bringing to the fore questions that are being raised today for the entire planet. We all share the responsibility for introducing new strategies, swapping experiences to find inspiration from elsewhere, and understanding that the economic, environmental and cultural dimensions of our problems cannot be dealt with separately at the dawn of the information and communication society. All the ArchiLab events have been planned to question the work of architects who have espoused the challenges of our age, and invite ordinary citizens to ponder on this theme. The Centre Region has put the year 2000 under the twofold sign of citizenship and democracy, and in so doing intends to be part of one of the crucial discussions for the future. So there is something utterly logical about it choosing to be ArchiLab's partner in this endeavour.